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Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:10 pm

“Blue Suede Shoes” was originally recorded by Carl Perkins in December 1955 at Sun Studios, 706 Union Avenue, Memphis. According to the most recent research, no exact date is known for the session, but it is known that the session was “filed and mastered on December 19, 1955”.(**)

Only three takes were recorded, all of them complete – no false starts.

Take 2 was chosen for release as Sun single 234 (coupled with “Honey, Don’t !”, recorded at the same session).

Takes 1 and 3 were first released in 1982 by Charly Records on “Carl Perkins – The Sun Years” (Sun Box 101), a 3-LP box set.

Please note that take 1 does not feature the classic “blue, blue, blue suede shoes” ending yet. This ending, of course, appears on take 2. It also appears on take 3, but very different from what we are used to hear.

Other notable lyrical differences can be spotted between the three takes :

--Take 1 has “go, boy, go”, instead of “go, cat, go”, one of the most famous lines in the song.

--Take 3 has “corn” instead of “liquor”.

--Both take 1 and 3 omit “you can do anything you wanna do” in the second verse. Instead, we have “I don’t care baby just whatcha do” – great !!!

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Yes, I know. But this is not a proper unreleased take. As I said in my first post, Carl recorded only three takes of "Blue Suede Shoes" at Sun.

The "take" you're referring to is really only a tampered version of the master take. It's presented by Bear Family as "test acetate". I've heard it, and the only real difference with Sun 234 is the fact that the word "liquor" is substituted by an added noise.

I don't own the box set you mentioned, so I don't know the full story behind this oddity. If you can share this information with us, it will be most welcome.

Thanks for your post.

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:06 am

As an addition to the three takes presented above, here's a neat YouTube upload of the Carl Perkins band's performance of "Blue Suede Shoes" at the Perry Como Show, on Sunday, May 26, 1956.

As you probably know, Carl and his band suffered an automobile accident in late March 1956, when they were about to appear on Como's show. They finally appeared two months later, after recovering from the accident, and this is the performance you are about to see.

But first, here's some background from Wikipedia :

After playing a show in Norfolk, Virginia on March 21, 1956, the Perkins Brothers Band headed to New York City for a March 24 appearance on NBC-TV's Perry Como Show. Shortly before sunrise on March 22 on Route 13 between Dover and Woodside in Dover, Delaware, Stuart Pinkham (a.k.a. Richard Stuart and Poor Richard) assumed duties as driver. After hitting the back of a pickup truck, their car went into a ditch of water about a foot deep, and Perkins was lying face down in the water. Drummer Holland rolled Perkins over, saving him from drowning. He had suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a severe concussion, a broken collar bone, and lacerations all over his body in the crash. Perkins remained unconscious for an entire day. The driver of the pickup truck, Thomas Phillips, a 40-year old farmer, died when he was thrown into the steering wheel. Carl's brother Jay had a fractured neck along with severe internal injuries, later dying from these complications.

On March 23, Bill Black, Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana visited Perkins on their way to New York to appear with Presley the next day. D.J. Fontana recalled Perkins saying, "Of all the people, I looked up and there you guys are. You looked like a bunch of angels coming to see me." Black told him, "Hey man, Elvis sends his love," and lit a cigarette for him, even though the patient in the next bed was in an oxygen tent. A week later, Perkins was given a telegram from Presley (which had arrived on March 23), wishing him a speedy recovery.

Sam Phillips had planned to surprise Perkins with a gold record on The Perry Como Show. "Blue Suede Shoes" had already sold more than 500,000 copies by March 22. Now, while Carl recuperated from the accident, "Blue Suede Shoes" scored No. 1 on most popular, R&B, and country regional music charts. It also scored No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and country charts. Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" scored number one on the pop and country charts, while "Blue Suede Shoes" did better than "Heartbreak" on the R&B charts. By mid-April, more than one million copies of "Blue Suede Shoes" had been sold.

On April 3, while still recuperating in Jackson, Perkins would see Presley perform "Blue Suede Shoes" on his first appearance on The Milton Berle Show appearance, which was his third performance of the song on national television. He also made references to it twice during an appearance on The Steve Allen Show. Although his version became more famous than Perkins's, it only scored No. 20 on Billboard's popular music chart.

Here's the telegram Elvis and the boys sent :

telegram_perkins.jpg

Here's a "Billboard" clipping referencing the accident :

BB 560407.JPG

And here's, finally, the fantastic clip of Perkins and the boys playing their million seller. This has been often used in incomplete form, but this is the real thing.

From left to right, you can see Clayton Perkins, W.S. Holland, Carl, and Jay Perkins. Note how Jay is still wearing some corrective gear in his neck due to the accident. It's cool to hear the presence of the bass and the acoustic guitar, which make good ole W.S. Holland's drumming almost redundant. It's also very cool how Carl punctuates the final chorus with a strong boogie beat on his guitar :

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:24 am

Mister Moon wrote:As an addition to the three takes presented above, here's a neat YouTube upload of the Carl Perkins band's performance of "Blue Suede Shoes" at the Perry Como Show, on Sunday, May 26, 1956.

As you probably know, Carl and his band suffered an automobile accident in late March 1956, when they were about to appear on Como's show. They finally appeared two months later, after recovering from the accident, and this is the performance you are about to see.

But first, here's some background from Wikipedia :

After playing a show in Norfolk, Virginia on March 21, 1956, the Perkins Brothers Band headed to New York City for a March 24 appearance on NBC-TV's Perry Como Show. Shortly before sunrise on March 22 on Route 13 between Dover and Woodside in Dover, Delaware, Stuart Pinkham (a.k.a. Richard Stuart and Poor Richard) assumed duties as driver. After hitting the back of a pickup truck, their car went into a ditch of water about a foot deep, and Perkins was lying face down in the water. Drummer Holland rolled Perkins over, saving him from drowning. He had suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a severe concussion, a broken collar bone, and lacerations all over his body in the crash. Perkins remained unconscious for an entire day. The driver of the pickup truck, Thomas Phillips, a 40-year old farmer, died when he was thrown into the steering wheel. Carl's brother Jay had a fractured neck along with severe internal injuries, later dying from these complications.

On March 23, Bill Black, Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana visited Perkins on their way to New York to appear with Presley the next day. D.J. Fontana recalled Perkins saying, "Of all the people, I looked up and there you guys are. You looked like a bunch of angels coming to see me." Black told him, "Hey man, Elvis sends his love," and lit a cigarette for him, even though the patient in the next bed was in an oxygen tent. A week later, Perkins was given a telegram from Presley (which had arrived on March 23), wishing him a speedy recovery.

Sam Phillips had planned to surprise Perkins with a gold record on The Perry Como Show. "Blue Suede Shoes" had already sold more than 500,000 copies by March 22. Now, while Carl recuperated from the accident, "Blue Suede Shoes" scored No. 1 on most popular, R&B, and country regional music charts. It also scored No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and country charts. Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" scored number one on the pop and country charts, while "Blue Suede Shoes" did better than "Heartbreak" on the R&B charts. By mid-April, more than one million copies of "Blue Suede Shoes" had been sold.

On April 3, while still recuperating in Jackson, Perkins would see Presley perform "Blue Suede Shoes" on his first appearance on The Milton Berle Show appearance, which was his third performance of the song on national television. He also made references to it twice during an appearance on The Steve Allen Show. Although his version became more famous than Perkins's, it only scored No. 20 on Billboard's popular music chart.

Here's the telegram Elvis and the boys sent :

Here's a "Billboard" clipping referencing the accident :

And here's, finally, the fantastic clip of Perkins and the boys playing their million seller. This has been often used in incomplete form, but this is the real thing.

From left to right, you can see Clayton Perkins, W.S. Holland, Carl, and Jay Perkins. Note how Jay is still wearing some corrective gear in his neck due to the accident. It's cool to hear the presence of the bass and the acoustic guitar, which make good ole W.S. Holland's drumming almost redundant. It's also very cool how Carl punctuates the final chorus with a strong boogie beat on his guitar :

That video was only uploaded about 4 weeks ago -- great to see it! Perkins was so awkward, yet so sincere. In a few days he'd headline the Overton Park Shell in Memphis as part of a Sun Records package, and Presley would be there to catch all the performances.

A few more notes about Carl's accident and signature song:

The main reason "Money Honey" was one of the numbers on Presley's final "Stage Show" appearance from March 24, 1956 was because he did not want to reprise "Blue Suede Shoes" from the week before, although that had been the plan. As you noted, Carl Perkins and his band had a terrible car crash a few days prior, knocking them out of their own New York appearance the same night, on NBC-TV's "The Perry Como Show." Doing Carl's hit would have been very bad form. And the telegram Elvis sent Carl on March 23 did indeed include a visit from his band that same day, driving en route to New York (Elvis flew to the Big Apple with manager Tom Parker).

As also noted, Perkins' Sun single was never #1, although it reached #2 on the Billboard U.S. pop chart, starting May 19, 1956. Here is another performance of his classic, about nine months later, one with some telling changes:

Ironically, Elvis was on "Stage Show" (CBS-TV) that Sunday evening, March 17, and one of his selections was ... "Blue Suede Shoes." To Elvis' credit, he did not issue his version as a single until September; it was released by RCA in March on EP and LP only.

Sadly, it was just four days after that first TV appearance Carl and band endured the terrible auto accident that put them out of commission for a month.

Last edited by drjohncarpenter on Thu Aug 14, 2014 11:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Wed Oct 30, 2013 1:46 am

Great post Mister Moon Sun studios has given us all such fantastic moments.Thanks for the additional input Doc

Go cat go works much better than go boy go for sure

norrie

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Wed Oct 30, 2013 3:33 am

Thanks for the post, Doc. A few more comments.

drjohncarpenter wrote:The main reason Elvis included "Money Honey" on his final "Stage Show" appearance on March 24, 1956 was because he did not want to reprise "Blue Suede Shoes" from the week before, although that had been the plan. As you noted, Carl Perkins and his band had been in a terrible car crash a few days prior, knocking them out of their own New York appearance on NBC-TV's "The Perry Como Show." Doing Carl's hit single would have been very bad PR.

Yes, Elvis did a fantastic version of "Shoes" at his 5th. appearance on "Stage Show", on March 17. I have always believed, too, that he did "Money Honey" the next week out of courtesy to Carl and the boys. It's our luck that he did, as we now have those fabulous images of Elvis singing The Drifters' 1953 hit - that acoustic guitar upfront is priceless !

drjohncarpenter wrote:As noted, Perkins' Sun single was never #1, although it reached #2 on the Billboard U.S. pop charts starting May 19, 1956. Here is another performance of his classic, about nine months later, one with some telling changes:

This is a great video, too. What a fantastic version. As you say, Carl changes the arrangement, and it sounds like Elvis' reading. However, although Carl did appear at the "Ozark Jubilee" on February 7, 1957, I think this video is not from that program, but from "Ranch Party", the TV show hosted by country singer Tex Ritter.

Several years ago, somebody sent me a video-tape containing many great clips, and among them there were four Carl Perkins performances which were noted as coming from "Ranch Party - 1957". The songs included were "Blue Suede Shoes" (the clip you included), "Matchbox" (Sun 261), "Dixie Fried" (Sun 249) and "Forever Yours" (Sun 274). They all looked as having been recorded the same day - same setting, same clothes, etc. And judging from the release date of "Forever Yours", August 1957, the clips should come from the second half of 1957, unless he did it on TV before releasing the single, which sounds unlikely. (Correction : they probably date from Spring 1957).

Anyway, browsing through YouTube, I have found all three of those clips, but I also have found a 26 minute segment which looks like an entire "Ranch Party" program, and features two Perkins tracks : "Blue Suede Shoes" (the one you posted) and "Your True Love" (the other side of Sun 261). No trace of the other three songs. It could also be a compilation from different shows, though :

This is my guess : the Perkins band recorded the same day at least five songs (and the spoken intro by Carl) for "Ranch Party", but they were broadcast at more than one program. The only detail I can spot that differences one cut from the others are the coats the band members are wearing on "Your True Love", but they could have easily changed them. Everything else looks exactly the same, I think.

Anyway, regardless of dates, etc., great music from a great artist - Carl Lee Perkins !

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:58 pm

Mister Moon wrote:Thanks for the post, Doc. A few more comments.

drjohncarpenter wrote:The main reason Elvis included "Money Honey" on his final "Stage Show" appearance on March 24, 1956 was because he did not want to reprise "Blue Suede Shoes" from the week before, although that had been the plan. As you noted, Carl Perkins and his band had been in a terrible car crash a few days prior, knocking them out of their own New York appearance on NBC-TV's "The Perry Como Show." Doing Carl's hit single would have been very bad PR.

Yes, Elvis did a fantastic version of "Shoes" at his 5th. appearance on "Stage Show", on March 17. I have always believed, too, that he did "Money Honey" the next week out of courtesy to Carl and the boys. It's our luck that he did, as we now have those fabulous images of Elvis singing The Drifters' 1953 hit - that acoustic guitar upfront is priceless !

drjohncarpenter wrote:As noted, Perkins' Sun single was never #1, although it reached #2 on the Billboard U.S. pop charts starting May 19, 1956. Here is another performance of his classic, about nine months later, one with some telling changes:

This is a great video, too. What a fantastic version. As you say, Carl changes the arrangement, and it sounds like Elvis' reading. However, although Carl did appear at the "Ozark Jubilee" on February 7, 1957, I think this video is not from that program, but from "Ranch Party", the TV show hosted by country singer Tex Ritter.

Several years ago, somebody sent me a video-tape containing many great clips, and among them there were four Carl Perkins performances which were noted as coming from "Ranch Party - 1957". The songs included were "Blue Suede Shoes" (the clip you included), "Matchbox" (Sun 261), "Dixie Fried" (Sun 249) and "Forever Yours" (Sun 274). They all looked as having been recorded the same day - same setting, same clothes, etc. And judging from the release date of "Forever Yours", August 1957, the clips should come from the second half of 1957, unless he did it on TV before releasing the single, which sounds unlikely.

Anyway, browsing through YouTube, I have found all three of those clips, but I also have found a 26 minute segment which looks like an entire "Ranch Party" program, and features two Perkins tracks : "Blue Suede Shoes" (the one you posted) and "Your True Love" (the other side of Sun 261). No trace of the other three songs. It could also be a compilation from different shows, though :

This is my guess : the Perkins band recorded the same day at least five songs (and the spoken intro by Carl) for "Ranch Party", but they were broadcast at more than one program. The only detail I can spot that differences one cut from the others are the coats the band members are wearing on "Your True Love", but they could have easily changed them. Everything else looks exactly the same, I think.

Anyway, regardless of dates, etc., great music from a great artist - Carl Lee Perkins !

Thanks again for your post.

Interesting update, and a good spot. I'll amend my post. Your YouTube clip looks to be a variant, if not the original, broadcast.

The syndicated "Ranch Party" seems to have made its initial run during the 1957-1958 season, debuting in September, with shows then playing on various stations for several years after that. One wonders if the 39 episodes ultimately produced by Screen Gems still exist somewhere; just imagine all the classic performances the archives may hold in those 19 and a half hours.

Also, if Perkins made one filmed appearance for the syndicated "Ranch Party," and that seems most likely, "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Your True Love" may well be the only songs captured, given the half-hour time slot and the fact that these were his lead singles at the time of filming.

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Last edited by drjohncarpenter on Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:03 am

drjohncarpenter wrote:Interesting update, and a good spot. I'll amend my post. Your YouTube clip looks to be a variant, if not the original, broadcast.

The syndicated "Ranch Party" seems to have made its initial run during the 1957-1958 season, debuting in September, with shows then playing on various stations for several years after that. One wonders if the 39 episodes ultimately produced by Screen Gems still exist somewhere; just imagine all the classic performances the archives may hold in those 19 and a half hours.

Also, if Perkins made one filmed appearance for the syndicated "Ranch Party," and that seems most likely, "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Your True Love" may well be the only songs captured, given the half-hour time slot and the fact that these were his lead singles at the time of filming.

Thanks for the additional information. I just love talking about Perkins at Sun !

Regarding Carl's appearance on "Ranch Party", I think I was wrong to date it as from "the second half of 1957" just by looking at the August release date of Sun single 274, "That's Right" / "Forever Yours".

As you pointed out, it definitely comes from earlier in that year. I have just remembered that Carl's performance of "Forever Yours" in that show was recently released as a bonus by Bear Family in their 5-CD "The Sun Era Outtakes" box set, and in the enclosed booklet they date it as from "probably Spring 1957".

Which makes some logic. At that point, his current single was "Matchbox" / "Your True Love" (Sun 261), and both songs were performed by the boys. As noted, they also did "Blue Suede Shoes", which had already become a signature song, and "Dixie Fried", one side of their previous single (Sun 249).

It's very likely they were asked to perform something that wasn't uptempo, and they chose to do "Forever Yours", which they recorded at Sun in late March, but wasn't released as a single until August.

Here's that beautiful performance of the song, which probably surpasses the beauty of the studio version :

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:03 am

Mister Moon wrote:Thanks for the additional information. I just love talking about Perkins at Sun !

Regarding Carl's appearance on "Ranch Party", I think I was wrong to date it as from "the second half of 1957" just by looking at the August release date of Sun single 274, "That's Right" / "Forever Yours".

As you pointed out, it definitely comes from earlier in that year. I have just remembered that Carl's performance of "Forever Yours" in that show was recently released as a bonus by Bear Family in their 5-CD "The Sun Era Outtakes" box set, and in the enclosed booklet they date it as from "probably Spring 1957".

Which makes some logic. At that point, his current single was "Matchbox" / "Your True Love" (Sun 261), and both songs were performed by the boys. As noted, they also did "Blue Suede Shoes", which had already become a signature song, and "Dixie Fried", one side of their previous single (Sun 249).

It's very likely they were asked to perform something that wasn't uptempo, and they chose to do "Forever Yours", which they recorded at Sun in late March, but wasn't released as a single until August.

Here's that beautiful performance of the song, which probably surpasses the beauty of the studio version :

Thanks for that clip. It is achingly beautiful, and reminds me of Carl's tremendous version of "Keeper of the Key" from the 12-04-1956 jam session at Sun. I do not have that Bear Family set, but I think I need to get the one on Carl and the one on Johnny!

Perhaps "Ranch Party" wanted something more country from Carl, and "Forever Yours" certainly fits. Given the superb quality of that clip, I suspect it was never included in a program, but found by Bear Family in some kind of archive. As for the other songs, they could not have programmed four Perkins numbers into a standard half-hour program, so either they were used later, or also come from an archive. Wish we knew more.

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:48 am

WESTERN RANCH PARTY was filmed in 35mm and syndicated by Screen Gems. The elements might be buried in the vaults at Sony Pictures. I'll reach out to some contacts at the studio and see if I can determine the current status.

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Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:44 pm

HoneyTalkNelson wrote:WESTERN RANCH PARTY was filmed in 35mm and syndicated by Screen Gems. The elements might be buried in the vaults at Sony Pictures. I'll reach out to some contacts at the studio and see if I can determine the current status.

Yes, we know.

Did you catch the post three above yours? It's chock full of good information about Screen Gems' "Ranch Party."

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:13 pm

drjohncarpenter wrote:Thanks for that clip. It is achingly beautiful, and reminds me of Carl's tremendous version of "Keeper of the Key" from the 12-04-1956 jam session at Sun. I do not have that Bear Family set, but I think I need to get the one on Carl and the one on Johnny!

Glad you liked it. This is Carl at his best, I think.

Regarding the Bear Family "Outtakes" sets, seven volumes have been released so far, of which I have three : the ones devoted to Carl Perkins, Billy Riley, and The Everly Brothers. All of them are top notch quality, in all respects. The booklets are worth the price of admission alone, full of newly researched notes by leading music experts. The Everlys set even includes song-by-song commentary by Don and Phil !

The Perkins and Riley sets are must-have stuff if you dig early rock and roll / rockabilly. Sun outtakes, of course, have been released elsewhere for 40 years now, but to see most of them compiled together like this is a real thrill.

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:32 pm

Mister Moon wrote:

drjohncarpenter wrote:Thanks for that clip. It is achingly beautiful, and reminds me of Carl's tremendous version of "Keeper of the Key" from the 12-04-1956 jam session at Sun. I do not have that Bear Family set, but I think I need to get the one on Carl and the one on Johnny!

Glad you liked it. This is Carl at his best, I think.

Regarding the Bear Family "Outtakes" sets, seven volumes have been released so far, of which I have three : the ones devoted to Carl Perkins, Billy Riley, and The Everly Brothers. All of them are top notch quality, in all respects. The booklets are worth the price of admission alone, full of newly researched notes by leading music experts. The Everlys set even includes song-by-song commentary by Don and Phil !

The Perkins and Riley sets are must-have stuff if you dig early rock and roll / rockabilly. Sun outtakes, of course, have been released elsewhere for 40 years now, but to see most of them compiled together like this is a real thrill.

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:52 pm

drjohncarpenter wrote:

Mister Moon wrote:

drjohncarpenter wrote:Thanks for that clip. It is achingly beautiful, and reminds me of Carl's tremendous version of "Keeper of the Key" from the 12-04-1956 jam session at Sun. I do not have that Bear Family set, but I think I need to get the one on Carl and the one on Johnny!

Glad you liked it. This is Carl at his best, I think.

Regarding the Bear Family "Outtakes" sets, seven volumes have been released so far, of which I have three : the ones devoted to Carl Perkins, Billy Riley, and The Everly Brothers. All of them are top notch quality, in all respects. The booklets are worth the price of admission alone, full of newly researched notes by leading music experts. The Everlys set even includes song-by-song commentary by Don and Phil !

The Perkins and Riley sets are must-have stuff if you dig early rock and roll / rockabilly. Sun outtakes, of course, have been released elsewhere for 40 years now, but to see most of them compiled together like this is a real thrill.

It’s very sad to learn that Elvis has not been the only artist whose Sun legacy has been materially mistreated.

In the case of Perkins and Riley, as the producers explain in the booklets of the respective sets, the original tapes - while not dumped, or systematically erased as were many of Elvis’s - were not always in the best conditions for an exhaustive project like this one.

Besides Sun’s informal nature, which many times meant that tapes were filed away unlabelled or stored in the wrong boxes, the producers also found out that, after so many years of having been used in so many different projects, the original tapes have also suffered from being handled by insensitive people. Some of them were literally cut in places, for example.

Also, there hasn’t been total control over which takes were already released, and where, and which were not.

And this has been the procedure for 40 years.

All of this meant that the producers of this project have had to work in a puzzle-like way, with endless tape comparisons, in order to differentiate one alternate from the other, etc.

So, they have refused to use the term “previously unreleased” for this project, and they simply present everything they have found in the most logical way possible.

Still, of course, you can tell whether you have heard a certain take before or not, if you’re used to listen to this stuff.

Answering your question :

Surprisingly, there’s lots of recordings that are presented here for the very first time.

In the case of Riley, there’s a lot of alternate takes from his very first sessions, which produced his first Sun single “Rock With Me Baby” / “Trouble Bound”. This is prime rockabilly stuff, and it had never appeared elsewhere before. Also, lots of alternates of his two subsequent singles, “Flyin’ Saucer Rock And Roll”, and “Red Hot”, also superb, many of them with Jerry Lee Lewis on piano. Some of these had been out before, but not anywhere near like this.

In the case of Perkins, it’s more difficult to find unheard stuff at this stage, but still there’s many surprises : incomplete takes of things like “Turn Around”, “Tennessee” or the fabulous “Boppin’ The Blues”, home recordings where you can hear his children playing in the background, and an almost entire cd filled with outtakes of “Put Your Cat Clothes On”, some of which, again, with JLL on piano.

I have spent many hours listening to the Perkins stuff, and have found out that, despite the exhaustivity and knowledge behind this project, a few previously released alternates have escaped unnoticed – I have found six, so far.

But it’s of course an immense pleasure to have this stuff available like this. It’s like a dream come true, really.

2012 was a great year for Sun rockabilly enthusiasts. In Spring, we had the 5-cd Perkins set from Bear Family. In August, we had FTD’s “A Boy From Tupelo” !!!

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:56 pm

And FTD's A Boy From Tupelo is now sold out, presumably forever.

Damn, damn, damn. I am going to HAVE to get these Sun sets, especially the Perkins and Riley collections. Billy Lee is perhaps the most highly underrated artist to ever record for Sun.

Thank you for all the expert details!

Re: Carl Perkins - "Blue Suede Shoes" - December 1955

Fri Nov 01, 2013 3:21 am

drjohncarpenter wrote:And FTD's A Boy From Tupelo is now sold out, presumably forever.

It's hard for me to believe that such an important piece of work will not be available again, at some point.

At the very least, the audio part will be reissued, I'm 100% sure. They should add the live version of "I Forgot To Remember To Forget", and also whatever they left out from the "When It Rains, It Pours" session - in all fairness, they shouldn't deprive us from hearing everything, even if it's a bit of bad language. We're all grown-ups !

drjohncarpenter wrote:Billy Lee is perhaps the most highly underrated artist to ever record for Sun.

Yes, although he's very much revered among 50s rockabilly fans, he deserved to be more well-known in his time. Same for Warren Smith. Then, there's a bunch of others who cut spare great songs or records, but those two were very talented artists who never got their due.